Understanding Users’ Perceptions of Travel Accounts on Instagram: Comparing DMO and Travel Influencer Accounts

Social Media has become an important marketing tool for destinations due to its easy access, ability to reach broad audiences and capacity to act as a form of eWOM. Instagram in particular is one of the most popular channels for the visual marketing of a destination as well as for influencer marketing. Through Instagram, DMOs can create travel inspiration, and enhance interest in a destination. This study seeks to understand the tourists' perceptions of Instagram influencers as well as official DMO accounts and looks on their influence on tourists' participation and engagement on social media. A quantitative survey was conducted to analyze users' perceptions of DMO and influencer accounts on Instagram, as well as their participation behavior online. The study found that DMOs are perceived as being more trustworthy and credible than travel influencers. In addition, results indicate that active Instagram users are more likely to have positive perceptions of travel influencers, but online participation does not influence perceptions of DMOs.